Free Essays on The Just War Theory

A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified. A just war can only be fought to rectify a wrong suffered. A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success and morally right intentions. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable. The ulimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought. The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. The weapons used in war must differentiate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissable targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target. If soldiers use discrimination, proportionality, and correct methods they will have kept their fighting as conservative as possible. Soldiers should only target those who are engaged in harm. Thus, when they take aim, soldiers must discriminate between the civilian population, which is morally immune from direct and intentional attack, and those legitimate military, political and industrial targets involved in rights-violating harm. While some civilian casualties are excusable, it is wrong to take deliberate aim at civilian targets. An example would be saturation bombing of residential areas. Soldiers may only use force proportional to the end they seek. Weapons of mass destruction, for example, are usually seen as being out of proportion to legitimate military ends. Soldiers may not use weapons or methods such as: mass rape campaigns; genocide or ethnic cleansing; torturing captured enemy soldiers; and using weapons whose effects cannot be controlled, like chemical or biological age nts.... Free Essays on The Just War Theory Free Essays on The Just War Theory A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified. A just war can only be fought to rectify a wrong suffered. A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success and morally right intentions. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable. The ulimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought. The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. The weapons used in war must differentiate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissable targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target. If soldiers use discrimination, proportionality, and correct methods they will have kept their fighting as conservative as possible. Soldiers should only target those who are engaged in harm. Thus, when they take aim, soldiers must discriminate between the civilian population, which is morally immune from direct and intentional attack, and those legitimate military, political and industrial targets involved in rights-violating harm. While some civilian casualties are excusable, it is wrong to take deliberate aim at civilian targets. An example would be saturation bombing of residential areas. Soldiers may only use force proportional to the end they seek. Weapons of mass destruction, for example, are usually seen as being out of proportion to legitimate military ends. Soldiers may not use weapons or methods such as: mass rape campaigns; genocide or ethnic cleansing; torturing captured enemy soldiers; and using weapons whose effects cannot be controlled, like chemical or biological age nts....

Deep Time and Geologic History

Deep Time and Geologic History Deep time refers to the time scale of geologic events, which is vastly, almost unimaginably greater than the time scale of human lives and human plans. It is one of geologys great gifts to the worlds set of important ideas. Deep Time and Religion   The concept of cosmology, the study of the origins and eventual fate of our universe, has been around as long as civilization itself. Before the advent of science, humans used religion to explain how the universe came into existence.   Many ancient traditions asserted that the universe is not only much larger than what we see but also much older. The Hindu series of yugas, for example, employs lengths of time so great as to be meaningless in human terms. In this way, it suggests eternity through the awe of large numbers. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Judeo-Christian Bible describes the history of the universe as a series of specific human lives, starting with Adam begat Cain, between the creation and today. Bishop James Ussher, of Trinity College in Dublin, made the definitive version of this chronology in 1650 and announced that the universe was created starting in the evening of 22 October in 4004 BCE. The biblical chronology was sufficient for people who had no need to concern themselves with  geologic time. Despite overwhelming evidence against it, the literal Judeo-Christian creation story is still accepted as truth by some.   Enlightenment Begins The Scottish geologist James Hutton is credited with exploding that young-Earth chronology with his painstaking observations of his farm fields and, by extension, the surrounding countryside. He watched the soil being washed into local streams and carried out to sea, and imagined it slowly accumulating into rocks like those he saw in his hillsides. He further supposed that the sea must exchange places with the land, in a cycle designed by God to replenish the soil, so that the sedimentary rock on the ocean floor could be tilted and washed away by another cycle of erosion. It was obvious to him that such a process, taking place at the rate he saw in operation, would take an immeasurable amount of time. Others before him had argued for an Earth older than the Bible, but he was the first to put the notion on a sound and testable physical basis. Thus, Hutton is considered the father of deep time, even though he never actually used the phrase. A century later, the age of the Earth was widely considered to be some tens or hundreds of millions of years. There was little hard evidence to constrain speculation until the discovery of radioactivity and 20th-century advances in physics that brought about radiometric methods of dating rocks. By the mid-1900s, it was clear that Earth was about 4 billion years old, more than enough time for all of the geologic history we could envision. The term deep time was one of John McPhees most powerful phrases in a very good book, Basin and Range, first published in 1981. It first came up on page 29: Numbers do not seem to work well with regard to deep time. Any number above a couple of thousand years- fifty thousand, fifty million- will with nearly equal effect awe the imagination to the point of paralysis. Artists and teachers have made efforts to make the concept of a million years accessible to the imagination, but its hard to say that they induce enlightenment rather than McPhees paralysis. Deep Time in the Present   Geologists do not talk about deep time, except maybe rhetorically or in teaching. Instead, they live in it. They have their esoteric time scale, which they use as readily as common folk talk about their neighborhood streets. They use large numbers of years nimbly, abbreviating million years as myr. In speaking, they commonly dont even say the units, referring to events with bare numbers. Despite this, its clear to me, after a lifetime immersed in the field, that even geologists cant really grasp geologic time. Instead, they have cultivated a sense of the deep present, a peculiar detachment in which it is possible for the effects of once-in-a-thousand-year events to be seen in todays landscape and for the prospect of rare and long-forgotten events to occur today.

The Enlightment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The Enlightment - Essay Example The current research looks at ideals of nature and human potential, absolutism and forms of government, as they are related to Enlightenment models, which were a challenge to the Old Regime. Later ideal government structures of the Enlightenment were more about the people than the divine monarch. â€Å"Supposed innate qualities, such as goodness or original sin, had no reality. In a darker vein, Thomas Hobbes portrayed man as moved solely by considerations of his own pleasure and pain.† (Enlightenment, 2008). There were light and dark sides to this decrease in absolutism. The Enlightenment represented a shift in the form of nature from being totally based on the idea of absolutism of divinity to a paradigm shift from the Old Regime. What many Enlightenment thinkers did was to refine the whole concept of nature-as-absolute, and change it in a way that represented less absolutism. A paradigm shift occurs when the accepted notions about a given subject or theory (absolutism in this case) become disfavored, in the favor of a new way of doing things or a new notion of the way in which things are done. This creates tension as supporters of the old paradigm are often polemical against the new paradigm during the process of change or paradigm shift. In terms of humanity’s successful attempts to control nature, and both of these things are seen as being positive by the various Enlightenment philosophies. The Enlightenment seems to also reserve a lot of praise for those things which are not found in nature, but rather which represent culture and art. Th is is a reflection of what the Old Regime may have been experiencing in terms of an agenda to install Enlightenment ideals of science, rationality and reason being paramount in terms of their opposition to nature and emotion which may be more spontaneous. The idea of the fall of absolutes shows in Enlightenment ideals in many ways, particularly in the appreciation of reason over emotion and the attention to

Death penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Death penalty - Essay Example Death Penalty is the gravest of all punishments and the Roman Catholic Church’s take on this punishment has evolved over time.This change in view of the Church will be discussed in this paper thoroughly.The paper will start off by giving a history of the death penalty and its supporters and opponents in the past,in terms of societal and religious groups. Then the Roman Catholic Church’s notion on the death penalty and its development is studied. Death penalty is a serious punishment for those who have committed serious crimes such as murder and have caused harm to the society by terrorist acts. People’s and nations’ perceptions of the death penalty or execution changed over time. This perception changed according to the requirements of the era. In today’s era, where crime is pervasive but also unstoppable, there is little need for death sentences, according to many people out of which some are staunch Christians also. But why do we link the religion to death penalty? They are both different branches of the same subject. We link religion to this punishment because all religions teach respect for human life and the right of humans to their lives. We will see in our discussion how the Church changes course from defending the right of oneself to the right of human life in general. We will see how the teachings of the Church changed from supporting the death penalty as a punishment to opposing it.... We can easily say that there will be many groups who will support this as punishment and other sensitive and tender ones will oppose it as it is the violation of human rights. The question is why would anyone support it and/or oppose it People who support it believe that this punishment should be given to people who have committed serious crimes in the past because of which people have lost lives, directly or indirectly. It supports the idea of the old adage; "a tooth for a tooth". If these criminals took lives, their lives must be taken in return too. On the other hand, the opponents believe that death penalty is as bad as what the criminals did. If they killed people, it doesn't make it acceptable for authorities to become as dire as them and take their lives in return. Now that the debate is clear, we can get into the history of the death penalty. It was in the Eighteenth Century B.C. when death penalty laws were first established. However, by the Eleventh Century A.D., it was decided that only people who murdered will be hanged and not other. Death penalty was traditional in Europe also, for many centuries. People were being executed till mid-1700 but by late 1700, the US abolitionist movement started. As a result, by early 1800's many of the states concentrated the number of their death crimes by building more state prisons. In Britain, around a hundred of the crimes that were punishable by execution were eliminated (Death Penalty Information Center, 2008). By early 1900, people were executed using the electrocution method but nine states of the US had abolished the law. By 1920, the abolition movement of USA started to lose support and became unpopular. Soon after this, newer ways of executing people were being discovered. Around this

The Hunger Games Essay Example for Free

The Hunger Games Essay In this Action-Drama Feature novel, Katniss Everdeen, A victor from the first novel the hunger games. Has fought her way through death itself. In which brings us to part two and when she fights to the death and becomes victor. Her worst enemy president Snow gets really angry with her. n the first hunger games when Katniss was in the arena she started a small rebellion by getting some poisonous berries with herself and her partner Peeta Mellark decided they where going to eat them some poisnious berrys so they wouldn’t have to kill each other while they was interupped by the government. Little did they know Katniss and Peeta was starting a rebeillon which brings us to novel three! The Mocking Jay Katniss is in the lost district 13. District 13 capture Katniss and 2 other tributes that was in the Hunger Games But instead of imprisoned them they decide to Make Katniss the Leader of the army, Beetus as the weapons designer Leader, rewarded Finnick with his own army, Gail Was Katniss assistance but while these tributes try to plan there attack on the capitol, the capitol is torturing the other people from districts all over except district two Because of the alliance there so Katniss Has to come up with a scheme to help those in need while bringing the government down so they can have the total freedom they been fighting the government for decades now. This is a great novel for readers at above reading average also for people who like drama intense action and a little love story here and there. I also enjoy reading part of this book except it takes an awfully long time to get to the point of what they are trying to say or explain but other than that it was a good story that enjoy.

Compare and Contrast 7 of the Main Ethical Principles Essay -- Ethics

Despite the implementation of a certain code of conduct and belief system into most individual's everyday lives, the concept of ethics or moral philosophy remains a hazy area, left to be tackled by philosophers and exceptional theorists. The assessment of major ethical systems over the course of the semester has forced me to reevaluate the fundamentals of my own moral philosophy and reconsider the role of ethics as a more average field of thought than I had once considered. Included in the major ethical systems examined throughout the course were: Cultural Relativism, Religious Ethics, Ethical Egoism, Utilitarianism, Kant's Moral Absolutism, Social Contract, and Ethics of Virtue. The explication of these very different systems and their pillars can be a sound basis for analyzing one's personal moral philosophy. In the 4th century BC the Greek sophist Protagoras, living in the midst of a period of Greek historical turmoil, turned to philosophy and an experimental model that he would develop to attempt to find any universally accepted moral principals. After collecting data from cultures he had the ability to examine, he concluded that he didn't find any universally accepted moral principals, which led him to the conclusion that there are no moral absolutes. In this case, when discussing something that has universal acceptance, it means with absolutely no exceptions, and a moral absolute is something that exists in the real world, independent of changes in perception. Protagoras concluded, through the use of human opinion for his data, likely to be not the most reliable source, that if morals are not absolute in nature, they are relative to the cultures that they are inherent to. This conclusion leads him to be called the father... ...ood mixture, consisting of a pinch of Cultural Relativism, a dash of Religious Ethics, a little bit of the others, and a lot of the Ethics of Virtue, would be the most beneficial to my life. It may seem like this conclusion is a cop out, a way to not choose a side in the battle of moral philosophies, but really, the reality of the world lends itself to a mixture, from cultural diversity to the diversity necessary for a healthy diet, a composition of many ideas seems to prevail, hardly ever just one. Works Cited Rachels, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill, Boston, 1999. Herskovits, Melville J. 1967 Cultural Dynamics. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. Abridged from Cultural Anthropology originally published in 1955. 1972 Cultural Relativism: Perspectives in Cultural Pluralism. New York: Random House.

Language Exerts Hidden Power Essay

Language utilizes the hidden power to express, convince and influence human beings. Language can be used in different forms and styles, however, we are never fully aware of the importance of the hidden power that language can express. Language can be revealed in many different ways, which can cause different perspectives from people. In Text A, â€Å"Tversky and Kahneman (1981) demonstrated systematic reversals of preference when the same problem is presented in different ways†. It shows the effectiveness of euphemism and vagueness. The people did not appreciate the straight forward statement, it may be because of the harshness and the reality that shocks the reader. The difference in the preference of the programs shows how human beings are more likely to prefer the positive facts than the negatives; Program A had seventy-two percent preferences. This can show how language has the power to convey something disastrous, however, in a euphemism way, in which the reader will more likely to accept. However, the complicated statements, those with fractions instead of exact numbers, seem to favour the reader. This may be because the reader needs more time to process the factual information in their brains, which may have the same effect as ‘Lost in Translation’; the more your brain processes, the more details and facts are faded away. In addition, the fractions used can make the situation of the Asian disease problem seem less serious, because fractions appear to be less in number than the exact real numbers. In this particular text, power is revealed by the factual information. The difference in presenting the statement does not differ the meaning of the Asian disease problem. However, the power of manipulating and influencing the reader depend on the way the author chooses to present the factual information. The language chosen will be the power that controls the reader’s minds. Different presentations will lead to different interpretations from the readers. Therefore, writers usually use certain style of language to ensure that they can influence and convince the readers. This can represent how human beings are slightly unaware of the importance of language. We tend to ignore and skip through words easily, in which we only want to read what we believe and what we want to see. Similarly, Text B expresses that in our world we normally ignore the flaws and the little ‘holes’ in our communication in language, which also shows the lack of awareness of the importance in language. Slowly, we will tend to lose the ability to control the power that is hidden in language. The ‘Lost in Translation’ ties in with text B as well. When people start to learn a new language they normally translate the words back into their foreign language in order for them to understand the meaning of those words. However, during those translations, many details and little ‘holes’ in the language will disappear and fade away. Native language enables human beings to communicate freely and comfortably, however, it influences out thoughts when it comes to learning a new language. Those little ‘holes’ will be filled in by the influential thoughts from our native language. Therefore, though we are learning a new language, we will still be moved and differentiated by the influence of our native language. The hidden power of the influence of a certain language is strong, it ties with the culture and the tradition of the certain country. From these, we can see how ignorant human beings can be when it comes to realizing how much language influences our lives and how we interpret things. Nevertheless, the power in language can cause negative effects as well as those positives. There are so many languages spoken in our world, therefore, many people can speak more than one language. This means that those people have more than one choice of language to express themselves. This can be positive, however, negative, because there isn’t always the same ‘sayings’ in different languages. As human beings, we manage to experience many different emotions and incidents, where many of those are indescribable in language. Therefore, we can say language is powerful, however, not as powerful as our own minds. â€Å"Language should be a direct mirror of mind† though many thoughts cannot be put into words. In text C, it suggests that language plays an essential role in thinking and the interactions between people, in which the power hidden is the linguistics, philosophy and the psychology side of language. We communicate through language by expressing out what we think in our minds using words, phrases and sentences. Therefore, Noam Chenosky expresses that language is a direct mirror to our minds, which is true to some extent, however, many emotions and thoughts cannot be fully expressed by language. Language can be so powerful that it’s complicated, and those technical studies of language can contribute to an understanding of human intelligence. Human beings have not paid much attention on the hidden power of language, therefore, we only have a rare glimmerings of understanding. Though the understanding of language is limited, most people think and do things depending on what they know and what they believe, which ties in with text A strongly. When people prefer different presentations of the same statement, we can assume that they all have a different perspective, which means they have their own beliefs and knowledge over the statement. Overall, all three texts agree with Rita, Mae Brown’s statement of â€Å"Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides† to a reasonable extent. They all show the human science of language and how language is powerful in our minds. The power inside language is great, however, we have never noticed it. It influences the way we think and the way we judge certain things. Though, due to our lack of awareness of the importance of language, we do not see how it influences out perspectives and perception. However, the possible negative effect of the power in language is that due to the many different languages people may be able to speak, they may find it difficult to express their thoughts and emotions because there are so many choices.

The Importance of Literature to Humanity

â€Å"Literature speaks the language of the imagination, and the study of literature is supposed to train and improve the imagination† (Frye 134). According to Northrop Frye the imagination is the combination between emotions and intellect in every individual. The more an individual is exposed to literature the better that person is at expanding their imagination, which he calls the educated imagination. Having an educated imagination helps one to think for themselves and create their own ideas and opinions. The educated imagination is a necessity of life in a political world, the study of literature is not an â€Å"elegant accomplishment† but a means of entry into a â€Å"free society† (Frye 147). With an educated imagination one is able to distinguish between moral and aesthetic truth, this is extremely important when it comes to politics. Politicians or simply people in a higher authority often use rhetoric language to manipulate and brainwash people with lies . In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows the negative effects rhetoric language can have on those with an uneducated imagination and that without literature society produces a world filled with ignorance. The absence of books in Fahrenheit 451 creates darkness within the society. In literature darkness is a symbol of ignorance, evil, falsehood, oblivion, despair and the unknown. Light on the other hand represents goodness, life, knowledge, fame and hope. During the entire novel the author constantly relates to darkness and night, â€Å"In the late afternoon it rained and the entire world was dark and grey† (Bradbury19). Books represent light; it provides people with knowledge, exposes truths and educates the mind. In this society books are illegal and the job of a fireman is to burn any house that contains books in it. Due to the burning of these books there is a lack of light in this society, just utter darkness. Because of the ignorance within the civilization the politicians are able to manipulate and convince the population that books and everything else that causes one to think is evil. This way they are able to easily influence and lead the population. Those that have been exposed to books realize that they are living in darkness and that their only way to get out of the darkness is through books, †Maybe these books can get us half out the cave† (Bradbury 74). All the darkness within the society has blinded the people into being unaware as to what is going on around them. The population is unconsciously being brainwashed and forced to conform without even knowing it. â€Å"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal† (Bradbury 58). Watching television became the major replacement for literature. This is because watching television does not require one to think but influences their thoughts which later influences their actions. The subconscious believes television is real. Watching television physically damages the brain and reduces intelligence. It also switches brain activity from the left side of the brain which is responsible for logic and critical analysis to the right side of the brain that is responsible for emotional responses. This allows each viewer to be heavily influenced and brainwashed by what they see and hear on TV. By restricting the population from literature and replacing it with televisions, they are decreasing the intelligence within the population making it easier to have full control over the society. Without the education one receives from books these people are simply sheep in a herd following their Sheppard. â€Å"The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that cannot read them† Mark Twain. The society is afraid of being inferior to those who read and understand. All books have meaning. Reading gives people time to think and reflect on not only the text, but their lives as well, â€Å"So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life† (83), books reveal the truth about the world. By burning books the firemen are destroying knowledge and promoting ignorance. This is the reason for all the ignorance and darkness within the society. Due to the lack of literature the people have an uneducated imagination and are therefore unable to see past the governments’ use of rhetoric. the first thing our imaginations have to do for us, as soon as we can handle words well enough to read and write and talk, is to fight to protect us from falling into the illusions that society threatens us with† (Frye 60). Those who are caught reading books are exterminated or taken away to reduce the chances of them spreading their wisdom to others. Those that read are smarter and are seen as a threat to society. These individuals are able to see past society’s use of rhetoric, â€Å"We can see here how the ordinary use of hetoric, which attempts to make society presentable, is becoming hypocritical and disguising the reality it presents beyond the level of social safety† (Frye 61). The rhetoric use of language in this society is to persuade the population into believing that being intellectual is a sin, and books are the cause of this sin, â€Å"So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach mans mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well read man? Me? † (Bradbury 58). Those that did read were able to oppose the use of eloquence. Clarisse was considered abnormal and a threat because she thought about things and often asked why, â€Å"She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing. You ask why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl’s better off dead† (Bradbury 60). Once again rhetoric language is used to justify the death of Clarisse and criticize the use of imagination. The main character Montag is a fireman who also reads books and is smart enough to see the flaws in his society. For this he is considered a burden and wanted by police. Those that read are able to see that there is more to life than pleasure and titillation. â€Å"Forgive a child who is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light† -Plato. The people in this novel are afraid of the light. They are afraid of literature and the truth, knowledge, and all goodness that comes with it. Due to the lack of literature in this society, the population is ignorant and unable to think individually. Because of the ignorance within the population the government has full control over their lives. Each individual deserves the right to live imaginative and free lives. â€Å"The fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life, then, is to produce, out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in† (Frye 60). Without literature the imagination becomes limited and people are unable to vision the society they want to live in. As the world becomes more modern and grows further, away from literature, society beings to look more like Fahrenheit 451 where citizens are nothing but a sheep in a herd.

Ancient Mayan Architecture - Temples and Palaces

Ancient Mayan Architecture - Temples and Palaces The Maya were an advanced society that flourished in Mesoamerica long before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. They were skilled architects, building great cities of stone that remain even a thousand years after their civilization fell into decline. The Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, walls, residences and more. They often decorated their buildings with intricate stone carvings, stucco statues, and paint. Today, Maya architecture is important, as it is one of the few aspects of Maya life that is still available for study. Maya City-States Unlike the Aztecs in Mexico or the Inca in Peru, the Maya were never a unified empire ruled by a single ruler from a single place. Rather, they were a series of smaller city-states who ruled the immediate vicinity but had little to do with other cities if they were far enough away. These city-states traded with and warred upon one another frequently, so cultural exchange, including architecture, was common. Some of the more important Maya city-states were Tikal, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Caracol, Copn, Quirigu, Palenque, Chichà ©n Itz and Uxmal (there were many others). Although every Maya city is different, they tended to share certain characteristics, such as general layout.​ Layout of Maya Cities Maya tended to lay their cities out in plaza groups: clusters of buildings around a central plaza. This was true of the impressive buildings in the city center (temples, palaces, etc) as well as smaller residential areas. These plazas are rarely neat and orderly and to some, it may seem as if the Maya built anywhere they pleased. This is because they Maya built on the irregularly-shaped higher ground to avoid floods and dampness associated with their tropical forest home. In the center of the cities were the important public buildings such as temples, palaces, and the ball court. Residential areas radiated out from the city center, growing sparser the further they got from the center. Raised stone walkways linked the residential areas with each other and the center. Later Maya cities were built on higher hills for defense and had high walls surrounding most of the city or at least the centers. Maya Homes The Maya kings lived in stone palaces in the city center near the temples, but the common Maya lived in small houses outside the city center. Like the city center, the homes tended to be bunched together in clusters: some researchers believe that extended families lived together in one area. Their modest homes are thought to be much like the homes of their descendants in the region today: simple structures constructed mostly of wooden poles and thatch. The Maya tended to build up a mound or base and then build upon it: as the wood and thatch wore away or rotted they would tear it down and build again on the same foundation. Because the common Maya were often forced to build on lower ground than the palaces and temples in the city center, many of these mounds have been lost to flooding or encroaching wilderness. The City Center The Maya built great temples, palaces, and pyramids in their city centers. These were often mighty stone structures, over which wooden buildings and thatched roofs were often built. The city center was the physical and spiritual heart of the city. Important rituals were done there, in the temples, palaces, and ball courts. Maya Temples Like many Maya buildings, Maya temples were built of stone, with platforms on the top where wooden and thatch structures could be built. Temples tended to be pyramids, with steep stone steps leading to the top, where important ceremonies and sacrifices took place. Many temples are graced by elaborate stone carvings and glyphs. The most magnificent example is the famous Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copn. Temples were often built with astronomy in mind: certain temples are aligned to the movements of Venus, the sun or the moon. In the Lost World Complex at Tikal, for example, there is a pyramid which faces three other temples. If youre standing on the pyramid, the other temples are aligned with the rising sun on equinoxes and solstices. Important rituals took place at these times. Maya Palaces The Palaces were large, multi-storied buildings which were home to the king and royal family. They tended to be made of stone with wooden structures on top. Roofs were made of thatch. Some Maya palaces are spacious, including courtyards, different structures that were possibly homes, patios, towers, etc. The palace at Palenque is a good example. Some of the palaces are quite large, leading researchers to suspect that they also acted as a sort of administrative center, where Maya bureaucrats regulated tribute, trade, agriculture, etc. This was also the place where the king and noblemen would interact not only with the common people but also with diplomatic visitors. Feasts, dances, and other community social events could also have taken place there. Ball Courts The ceremonial ball game was an important part of Maya life. Common and noble people alike played for fun and recreation, but some games had important religious and spiritual significance. Sometimes, after important battles in which important prisoners were taken (such as enemy noblemen or even their Ahau, or King) these prisoners would be forced to play a game against the victors. The game represented a re-enactment of the battle, and afterward, the losers (which were naturally the enemy nobles and soldiers) were ceremonially executed. Ball courts, which were rectangular with sloped walls on either side, were prominently placed in Maya cities. Some of the more important cities had several courts. Ball courts were sometimes used for other ceremonies and events. Surviving Maya Architecture Although they were not on a par with the legendary Inca stonemasons of the Andes, Maya architects built structures which have withstood centuries of abuse. Mighty temples and palaces at places like Palenque, Tikal, and Chichen Itza survived centuries of abandonment, followed by excavation and now thousands of tourists walking and climbing all over them. Before they were protected, many ruin sites were scavenged by locals looking for stones for their homes, churches or businesses. That the Maya structures have survived so well is a testament to the skill of their builders. The Maya temples and palaces that have withstood the test of time often contain stone carvings depicting battles, wars, kings, dynastic successions and more. The Maya were literate and had a written language and books, of which only a few survive. The carved glyphs on temples and palaces are therefore important because there is so little remaining of the original Maya culture. Source McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. New York: Norton, 2004.

History and Facts About Alcatraz Prison

History and Facts About Alcatraz Prison Once considered the prison of American prisons, the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay has been an asset to the U.S. Army, the federal prison system, jailhouse folklore, and the historical evolution of the West Coast. Despite its reputation as a cold and unforgiving penitentiary, Alcatraz is now one of the most prominent tourist magnets in San Francisco. In 1775, Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala chartered what is now San Francisco Bay. He called the 22-acre rocky island La Isla de los Alcatraces, meaning Island of the Pelicans. With no vegetation or habitation, Alcatraz was little more than a desolate islet occupied by the occasional swarm of birds. Under the English-speaking influence, the name Alcatraces became Alcatraz. Fort Alcatraz Alcatraz was reserved for military use under President Millard Fillmore in 1850. Meanwhile, the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada Mountains brought growth and prosperity to San Francisco. The lure of the Gold Rush demanded the protection of California as gold seekers flooded the San Francisco Bay. In response, the U.S. Army built a fortress on the rocky face of Alcatraz. They made plans to install more than 100 cannons, making Alcatraz the most heavily armed entity on the West Coast. The first functional lighthouse on the West Coast was built on Alcatraz Island as well. Once fully equipped with weaponry in 1859, the island was deemed Fort Alcatraz. Having never fired its own weapons in combat, Fort Alcatraz quickly evolved from an island of defense to an island of detention. In the early 1860s, civilians arrested for treason during the Civil War were housed on the island. With the influx of prisoners, additional living quarters were built to house 500 men. Alcatraz as a jail would continue for 100 years. Throughout history, the average population of the island hovered between 200 and 300 people, never at maximum capacity. The Rock After the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906, inmates from nearby prisons were transferred to the infallible Alcatraz. Over the next five years, prisoners built a new jail, designated Pacific Branch, U.S. Military Prison, Alcatraz Island. Popularly known as The Rock, Alcatraz served as an army disciplinary barracks until 1933. Prisoners were educated and received military and vocational training here. Alcatraz of the early 20th century was a minimum-security prison. Prisoners spent their days working and learning. Some were even employed as babysitters for the families of prison officers. They eventually built a baseball field and inmates fashioned their own baseball uniforms. Boxing matches among inmates known as â€Å"Alcatraz Fights† were hosted on Friday nights. Prison life played a role in the changing landscape of the island. The military transported soil to Alcatraz from nearby Angel Island, and many prisoners were trained as gardeners. They planted roses, bluegrass, poppies, and lilies. Under the order of the U.S. Army, Alcatraz was a fairly mild institution and its accommodations were favorable. The geographic location of Alcatraz was the undoing of U.S. Army occupation. Importing food and supplies to the island was much too expensive. The Great Depression of the 1930s forced the army off the island, and the prisoners were transferred to institutes in Kansas and New Jersey. Uncle Sam’s Devil’s Island Alcatraz was obtained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1934. The former military detention center became America’s first maximum-security civilian penitentiary. This â€Å"prison system’s prison† was specifically designed to house the most horrendous prisoners, the troublemakers that other federal prisons could not successfully detain. Its isolated location made it ideal for the exile of hardened criminals, and a strict daily routine taught inmates to follow prison rule and regulation. The Great Depression witnessed some of the most heinous criminal activity in modern American history, and Alcatraz’s severity was well suited to its time. Alcatraz was home to notorious criminals including Al â€Å"Scarface† Capone, who was convicted of tax evasion and spent five years on the island. Alvin â€Å"Creepy† Karpis, the FBI’s first â€Å"Public Enemy,† was a 28-year resident of Alcatraz. The most famous prisoner was Alaskan murderer Robert â€Å"Birdman† Stroud, who spent 17 years on Alcatraz. Over its 29 years of operation, the federal prison housed more than 1,500 convicts. Daily life in the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was harsh. Prisoners were given four rights. They included medical attention, shelter, food, and clothing. Recreational activities and family visits had to be earned through hard work. Punishments for bad behavior included hard labor, wearing a 12-pound ball and chain, and lock-downs where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, restricted to bread and water. There was a total of 14 escape attempts by over 30 prisoners. Most were caught, several were shot, and a few were swallowed by the chilling swells of the San Francisco Bay. Why Did Alcatraz Close? The prison on Alcatraz Island was expensive to operate, as all supplies had to be brought in by boat. The island had no source of fresh water, and almost one million gallons were shipped in each week. Building a high-security prison elsewhere was more affordable for the Federal Government, and as of 1963 â€Å"Uncle Sam’s Devil’s Island† was no more. Today, the equivalent of the infamous federal prison on Alcatraz Island is a maximum-security institution in Florence, Colorado. It is nicknamed â€Å"Alcatraz of the Rockies†. Tourism Alcatraz Island became a national park in 1972 and is considered part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Open to the public in 1973, Alcatraz sees more than one million visitors from across the globe each year. Alcatraz is best known as a maximum-security prison. Media attention and fantastic stories have exaggerated this image. The San Francisco Bay islet has been much more than this. Alcatraz as a mass of rock named for its birds, an American fort during the Gold Rush, an army barracks, and tourist attraction may be less enticing but allude to a more dynamic existence. It is one to be embraced by San Francisco and California as a whole.

Court system in England and Wales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Court system in England and Wales - Essay Example This provides the judge with an opportunity to grow his knowledge and expertise on the basis of the experience of hearing similar cases; this has supported his understanding of and familiarity with the subject matter. This procedure has saved out the time required by the previous judges to educate themselves for the variety of cases, the fundamental benefit of Specialist court is that it has reduced the duration of hearings, and reduced the costs for litigants, courts, and administrative staff. The procedure will develop the command and affiliation of a particular judge towards a particular issue and reference, the fact that the specialist judge is familiar with the particular area of law has frequently enabled the court to resolve and reach the conclusion at an early stage, through case management at a directions hearing, to ensure that only the core issues are pursued, and thus the reduction in the number of issues can be expected. (Graeme C. Moodie. The Government of Great Britain . 1961. Crowell. pp.241) The strong and comprehensive understanding of the respective judges with the case material has ensured greater consistency in the decision making phase, and the outcome of the proceedings is more predictable. This is especially important in certain fields, such as family law, where the ultimate decision usually requires the exercise of a discretionary judgment. The practice has resulted in the uniformity of decisions and verdicts; the uniformity of the decision is expected to further improve by judges having a collegiate association with each other. The consistency of the decision is required especially in family cases, where the court's decision may well impact forcefully on the parties. If such consistency of the decision is not reflected by the court, it is feared that people and families will develop lack of confidence in the court system, and subsequently the court's authority will dilute. (Edward Cazalet. Specialised courts: Are they a "quick fix" or a long-term improvement in the quality of justice A Case Study. 5th March, 2001) DEVELOPMENT OF CORPS OF SPECIALIST ADVOCATES The Court system of England and Wales, has recommended the establishment of Specialized Court, provided that there is sufficient amount of work, which will be followed by the development of a corps of specialist advocates. The purpose and existence of the court is compulsory, so as to assist and support the running court. Furthermore, the practice of the specialist court will enable the newly appointees of specialized court in identification of the important issues relevant to the case, and thereby give to the parties concerned a more informed prognosis about the outcome of the case. The Court system has further reduced the caseload of generalist courts, which are often overburdened. The specialist court is responsible for relieving the general court in case, a new legislation in particular field require thorough interpretation by the court. The specialist court is also responsible for ensuring that the mainstream of litigation is not impeded. (Philip Norton. The British Polity. 1984. Longman. pp.152) INCREASED MOMENTUM OF LITIGATION The adopted Court system has resulted in the increased momentum of litigation and saved costs. According to reports, the benefits of case management through the family court have been seen